1. Field of the Invention
The object of the present invention is a device for throwing balls, namely for collective sports.
The invention is related to the field of the sports training appliances, and in particular to the field of the appliances for projecting balls, as well as to that of the games or toys for projecting balls.
The object of the invention is in particular the improvement of the existing devices for throwing balls, in which the balls are struck by means of a striking arm, such as those described in WO 2008/056038 and EP 0 520 929.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
These devices generally include a frame incorporating a ball magazine and a striking mechanism, the latter including a striking arm provided at its free end with a striking means movable in pivoting through a shaft and associated with driving means capable of driving in pivoting so that said striking means can describe a path passing through a location aimed at receiving a ball delivered by said magazine. The driving means essentially comprise an energy accumulator capable, under the action of a control means, of restituting and transmitting this energy to said shaft and, thus, to the striking arm.
These devices are in particular for teaching collective sports using a ball, for learning technical movements. They permit to reproduce ball throws following regular paths.
The device of EP 0 520 929 includes a striking arm moving in a vertical or substantially vertical plane, while WO 2008/056038 includes a striking arm moving in a horizontal or substantially horizontal plane. These arms are provided at their free end with a striking means, which is in the form of a plate or the like, and which is aimed at entering into contact with the ball.
In practice, it has been observed that the path of the ball did not follow a line tangent to the circle described by the striking means, but that it departed from same, so that the user had to move laterally in order to receive the throw, this effect is due to the path of the striking means not being rectilinear, to the impact not having a direction perfectly radial to the ball, and to it occurring on a relatively extended surface with a force that is not distributed homogeneously, and with a possible displacement, even a sliding, of the ball with respect to the striking means.
In order to cope with this drawback, i.e. to obtain a path substantially tangent to the circle followed by the striking means, it has been observed that the point of impact of the striking means on the ball should be modified, which has however the drawback, in addition to the fact that the desired path is obtained only by trials at the level of the settings, when such is possible, with less effectiveness, since the point of impact corresponding to the optimal energy transmission is different from the point of impact permitting to optimize the path.